Ethiopian Review

Kampala — The African Union decision not to cooperate with and enforce a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has squeezed Uganda into a tight corner.

Botswana’s Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani reacted to the AU decision with this statement: “The government of Botswana does not agree with this decision and wishes to reaffirm its position that as a state party to the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court (ICC) it has treaty obligations to fully cooperate with the ICC in the arrest and transfer of the president of Sudan to the ICC”.

Uganda must now decide whether to follow the noble lead provided by Botswana i.e. distance itself from the AU decision and back the ICC to extradite Bashir to the Hague for trial on war crimes charges.

After all, unlike Libya which pushed the AU to that decision, Uganda cannot pretend that it does not recognize the ICC.

Uganda lodged its own case against Lord’s Resistance Army rebel leader Joseph Kony et al and expects the court and other countries that are party to the Rome Statute of the ICC to enforce warrants of arrest against them.

In the same vein, Uganda is duty bound to cooperate fully with the ICC in its investigations and prosecutions. In particular, it must cooperate in arresting and surrendering any person charged by the Court. This could be tested later this month as Bashir is scheduled to visit the country for the Smart Partnership meeting at Munyonyo. Sitting on the fence might leave Uganda tied in hypocritical tinsel.

- The Independent